Beheaded US journalist's family proud of him

Washington, Aug 20:The video released by the militants of the Islamist State of Syria, which showed the beheading of a US journalist James Foley, was gruesome. But his family members are proud. His mother, Diane Foley on her Facebook page posted,"have never been prouder of him. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people."

Imploring the militants to spare the lives of other hostages, she further added,"Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world."

The statements by the family were posted in a separate page called "Find James Foley", which was created since his disappearance in November 2012.

A disturbed Diane, late on Tuesday, said "family would not hame an immediate statement when approached at her home by an Associated Press reporter." A priest was reported to have arrived at their home several hours later.

Based out of Rochester, the 40-year-old journalist, New Hampshire, went missing in northern Syria while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Boston-based media company GlobalPost. His car was reportedly stopped by four militants in a zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since. [Read entire story: Video posted by ISIS shows beheading of an American journalist ]